A Safe Place and a Prison
by Queen of the Castle
Summary: This planet is fairly small, and the camp isn't exactly secret. The Doctor should have found her by now. She can't help but think about what it means that he hasn't.


It's been nearly three weeks since Rose was yanked away from the hostile aliens to the 'safety' of the camp, and since she'd been separated from the Doctor. It feels like longer. Out here, time seems to drag.

This planet is fairly small, and the camp isn't exactly secret. The Doctor should have found her by now. She can't help but think about what it means that he hasn't. Rose remembers how he'd died not all that long ago, brought back into existence only by her Dad's sacrifice. She'd felt helpless. Now she's just sitting here, trapped within the boundaries of the camp, and she feels just as useless as she did then.

"The guys are talking again about how you won't do your part." Greg's voice startles her as sits beside her. "Just because you're a woman –"

Rose snorts. "That's got nothin' to do with it, and you know it. I'm just not pickin' up a gun."

The only weapon Rose has is a knife she keeps beside her sleeping roll for show. She's one of only three women in the whole camp, and one or two of the men practically tear her clothing off with their eyes whenever she's within twenty feet. She has to send them a message somehow, and weapons are what this lot seem to understand. The knife's necessary. A gun isn't.

"C'mon, everyone has to do sentry duty," Greg reminds her. "It's all that keeps us safe. Even then..."

"I've had guns aimed at me before," Rose says. "There's no way I'm gonna aim one at another person."

"They're not people," Greg says flatly.

"I dunno," Rose replies sceptically. "A few months ago I might've gone along with that, but now... If they aren't people, then what are they?"

"Monsters," Greg spits. "Animals. What does it matter what you call them? They're out to murder us."

There are as many deaths on the other side, Rose knows. She's pointed that out before, and received threats to toss her back out there with the aliens if she's so worried about them. She's shut up about it for now. Once the Doctor finds her, though...

_If_ the Doctor finds her.

Rose looks up at the sky to distract herself, though really the stars just remind her of him. Still, it's something to concentrate on other than the ominous crackling of the trees around them.

"You know, the stars look different from Earth," she remarks.

"Earth? I heard that was uninhabitable."

Rose shakes her head. "Earth is... home. One of my homes, anyway."

She can't believe that she'll never see either London or the TARDIS again. She just can't.

"I'm gonna get back there," she tells herself aloud.

Greg laughs bitterly. "I don't get you. You've watched men be _eviscerated_, same as I have. How can you still be naive enough to believe that good things happen after that?"

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I like hope. Hope's a good emotion. Without it, the blood and guts are all there is. What kind of life's that, huh?"

Whatever Greg means to say next is interrupted by an urgent cry from a guard off to her left.

"_Raid!_"

Greg yanks her painfully to her feet. "They're here," he says. He doesn't elaborate. He doesn't have to.

Rose has seen for herself the way their claws slice through human flesh as if it's softer than butter, flicking blood in an arc. She knows what will happen if the guards aren't enough to hold them back.

The only sounds for over a minute are of panicked breathing and of shoes scrabbling against loose rocks.

"They've surrounded us!" someone finally calls out.

"What're they doin'?" Rose mutters to Greg. "Not that I'm gonna complain, but how comes they aren't attackin', already?"

"Oi, now! Aim that somewhere else!"

An inarticulate noise nearly catches in Rose's throat. She knows that voice.

"Human!" one of the guards calls. "Help him, quick."

"Watch the hands! I'm fine. You want to help, you can tell me whether you've seen a woman. 'Bout this high, blonde hair, natters on a bit."

Rose decides to save being angry about that comment for later.

"Here! Doctor!" she finds her voice. "Oh my god! I'm here!"

She sees him, and moments later flies into his arms, just barely stopping herself from sobbing all over him. "I thought you'd..."

"What?" the Doctor asks, letting her go except for his grip on her hand. "Left you?"

"No! Idiot," Rose says. "I thought something _happened_ to you."

"Ah," he says. He's quiet for a moment. "'M not an idiot. Unbelievably clever, me." He sounds slightly petulant. She's missed that.

"You're Rose's Doctor?" Greg asks doubtfully. "From the way she talks, I thought you'd be more..."

"What?" the Doctor prompts.

"_Impressive_."

The Doctor rolls his eyes. "Blimey, everyone's a critic. I come here to save your lives, and this is the thanks I get?"

Greg remarks, "If you're hoping to save lives, best take up arms. There's a whole army about to rush in here and tear us apart."

The Doctor scoffs. "I'm not one for guns."

"Oh, so that's where Rose gets it from," Greg says.

The Doctor beams at her. "Nah. Unlike some, she's got sense all of her own. 'Sides, those people out there don't want to kill you. You humans, honestly. You're always so afraid of anything that's a bit different that you can't even see their side. They're just scared, same as you. I've talked to them. They want the fighting to stop." The Doctor sends a grin Rose's way. "Think you're up for some peace-brokering?"

Seeing the Doctor alive and well, after weeks of not knowing, Rose is so relieved that she's up for just about _anything_.

"Yeah," she says. "It's been a while since we saved the universe. Can't go gettin' out of practice."

She doesn't tell him how much she's missed him. She lets the squeeze of her hand speak for itself.

~FIN~


End file.
